Car vs. truck: New ATA report offers summary of crash-fault studies

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ARLINGTON, Va. — A new report from the American Trucking Associations has summarized a number of large-scale studies that detail the number of times cars versus commercial trucks were found to be “at-fault” during car-truck crashes.

ATA’s paper cites studies by the University of Michigan, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, AAA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, all of which show that many crashes involving a commercial truck and a smaller vehicle were initiated or caused by the driver of the smaller vehicle.

“The principal policy reason for evaluating relative contribution, and the nature of errors that increase crash risk, is to design and implement cost-effective truck safety programs that yield the greatest safety benefits,” ATA president and CEO, Bill Graves said.

“In the context of prevention and countermeasures, it’s critical to understand relative contribution since cars are involved in the majority of truck crashes.

Graves also said it is “tragic that carriers and drivers across this country are saddled with guilt and blame for many crashes they could do nothing to prevent.”  

“They should not continue to be penalized by their government for the unsafe actions of other motorists when it’s plainly evident that the professional driver did not cause or could not have avoided a crash.”

“It is imperative that FMCSA institute a fair process to address the question of crash accountability in its Compliance, Safety, Accountability monitoring system,” Graves said.

To read a summary of ATA’s findings, click here.

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